


I've Met You Once (And I've Fallen for your Notions

by louisszuko



Category: One Direction
Genre: Famous Louis, Non-Famous Harry, Soulmates but only kind of, but Zayn is not friends with them anymore, deaths of parents, fate fucks with everyone, mentions of depression, mentions of past character death, pop punk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9701189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisszuko/pseuds/louisszuko
Summary: He thought he loved the seventeen year old boy with the blue eyes and the long fringe and the stripey shirts. The boy with the eye crinkles and the white teeth and the snark. The boy with the smiles and the laughter. His Lou. Then he saw him in real life, and his Lou winked at him. Then he literally ran into him (with a door, no less) behind the venue and his Lou snogged the life out of him and said he was hot and thanks for coming. And then he realized his Lou would never love him, because he didnt know him. He broke his own heart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the not the first thing I've written, but it is the first I've felt any pride in. It kind of got away from me and became the conplete opisite of what I had imagined, but I kind of like the end product. Hope you do too.   
> The title is from Just a Boy, by Angus and Julia Stone. If you like it, please let me know. Maybe i could continue it or pist something else.

"Thanks again for helping me pack my stuff. I know you were probably busy with the kids today-"

"Nonsense, Harry. Never too busy for you. Plus their dad has them today," Martha says. Martha has been Harry's best friend since pre-school, but they have fizzled out in recent years. Martha got married and had twins by the time she was nineteen, and was divorced after three years. Harry worked in a bakery. He just wants to save money, and eventually start his own family. But he has to find the right person first. He's not doing anything here in Cheshire, so he thinks it best to venture out. Off to London he goes.   
Martha pulls a box off of his closet top shelf. They rifle through together, pulling out old photos from secondary school. Martha pulls out a wrinkled poster. 

"Fourth Point. What a band they were. God, the haircuts," she starts to laugh, falling backwards in a fit. Harry takes the poster. 

"Hey... Louis was cute. Probably still is if I'm honest." 

"Nah, mate, Liam was it for me." 

"Oh, i remember. 'Oh Liam's so fit, I just want him to kiss me until I'm jelly'." Harry raises his voice in an embarrasing imitation of a girl. Martha only laughs harder.

"Think you've still got their songs on your old iPod? Give 'em a listen?" 

Harry waves her over to the box where they would have stashed it. She hooks it up to his speaker, via a hard to find AUX cable, and the moody bass music starts in. The pair bang their heads along to the 2008 pop punk jam. After the third song, the iPod dies and they're left in silence. 

"You remember at the concert, how-" 

"How Louis winked at you? And then kissed you after the concert behind the building?" Harry smiles. 

"Yeah. Yeah that." 

"You cried. I remember that part. Said he was the love of your life and you would never see him again." Harry laughs at how melodramatic he had sounded. But then again, he really had thought he loved Louis. He knows now he never could have, but he thought he did. He thought he loved the seventeen year old boy with the blue eyes and the long fringe and the stripey shirts. The boy with the eye crinkles and the white teeth and the snark. The boy with the smiles and the laughter. His Lou. Then he saw him in real life, and his Lou winked at him. Then he literally ran into him (with a door, no less) behind the venue and his Lou snogged the life out of him and said he was hot and thanks for coming. And then he realized his Lou would never love him, because he didnt know him. He broke his own heart. 

"Harry?" Martha speaks softly. 

"Im okay. Just sad innit?" Martha smiles.   
They get the last box in the van. Martha follows behind all the way to the outskirts of London in his car. She cries when she carries in the last box. 

"Martha, dont be so sad. Im only a few hours away love." He wraps his arms around her. 

"You can come visit anytime, with or without the kids. I've got plenty of space." He gestures to the entire house he bought. He's got the money saved up, what with his inheritance from his parents and working non stop for five years while living in a shoebox. He wants a house for a family, so by golly he'll have one. It's blue, with a wrap around porch and a red door and white shutters. The yard is plain but green. He'll have to put in a garden. And the house is too large for him, but he plans on getting a cat and maybe a dog. He's lived alone long enough to be used to it. He moved out after school, and never moved back. Once his parents died, Gemma and her now fiance moved in to their old house. They said he was welcome, but he never wanted to intrude. 

Harry starts to unpack immedietly. The house is almost entirely white on the interior, with some light wood accents that match the floor. He adds in some color with a pink throw or some plants here and there, but enjoys the minimalistic vibe the place gives off. He spends his first night sipping cheap wine from a mug he managed to unearth while floating in the giant tub filled to the brim with lavender scented bubbles. He is happy. He will miss Martha, and Gemma, and all of his friends really, but he needs a fresh start, a new life, and he is happy. 

He has a job lined up, but does not start work for nearly two months. He will be a preschool teacher, as the current one will be on maternity leave.   
His first order of business is to unpack. That takes three days of nonstop work. He has a lot of things, okay?

Then he wants to plant a garden. That takes two more. In those five days he meets the neighbors across the street and one next door. Linda and Gerald have a teenage daughter named Mindy, who is too cool to come down and meet the neighbor but assuredly a swedt girl. Suzanna is in her mid seventies and lives alone, with her three cats, after the death of her hisband nearly fifteen years ago. She has five children and eight grandchildren and even one great grand child named (regrettably) Kale. Her cats are names Whiskers, Jasmine, and Randy. She helps Harry find the best nursery to find some flowers at.   
It is while planting said flowers (poppies) that he meets His other neighbor.

"Sick flowers mate," he remarks. Harry turns around quickly, flinging his long hair into his face and mouth. He sputters a bit. 

"Thank you! Hi, i'm harry!" He justs out his hand then looks at the thing, covered in mud, then pulls off the glove and tries again. The man laughs and introduces himself as Niall. Harry blinks. It cant be, can it? He had blonde hair then, but it was died, and his teeth have obviously been fixed. He's lost a lot of baby fat, yeah, but Harry's sure of it now. He knows who this is. 

"You're not Niall Horan, are you?" He laughs, putting his hands up. 

"Guilty, i'm afraid. Were you a fan?" 

"Oh massive. But i wont scream i promise." They both chuckle. 

"Oh, uh, do you want to come inside? I've got some cake I baked yesterday, or-" 

"I'd love to, but I'm actually heading out. Raincheck? Promise?" Harry nods and says goodbye, going back to his poppies. 

He decides to tell Martha on the phone that night.

"Guess who I met today, babes?"

"Your neighbors? I was hoping you would soon." 

"Yes! And he is none other than the Niall Horan."   
"Wait seriously? From Fourth Point? We were just talking about them the other day! Did you ask him if you could meet Louis? Or Liam?" 

"What? No. I invited him in for cake, and not because he's an ex band member but because he's my neighbor. He had somewhere to be but promised a raincheck. He's probably a busy guy, Martha. Doubt I'll see much of him. And he's probably not even friends with the rest of them anyway." 

Boy was he wrong about the "busy" thing. Turns out Niall has nothing better to do for the next two days than sit on Harry's porch and eat baked goods while he gardens. On the third day, he comes over and knocks on the door.

"Hey, I didn't see you in your yard, like always. Wanted to make sure you were okay?" Harry smiles. Niall's actually a really nice guy. He's friendly and positive and sincere. 

"Thats sweet. No, I'm fine. Decided to take a break from the garden and try to find a shelter." Niall looks puzzled, so Harry explains. 

"A pet shelter. I want to adopt a cat. You dont know where one is, do you?" 

"Theres one about fifteen minutes away. I could go with you? Give directions?" 

Harry tells him that sounds great, and off they go.  
They look through rows and rows of kennels filled with cats. Harry loves all of them, but his favorite is the one at the end. His name is Buttons. He's light grey, with long fur and blue eyes. Harry stares, face pressed to the glass door, and Niall reads off the card to him. 

"Says he's about two years old. Probably part persian. Lazy and quiet." 

Buttons comes home with Harry that day, and is promptly renamed (Herbert is much better, no?).   
Their first full day together is a bit ruff. Herbert hides under the couch the whole day but whines pitifully until Harry puts food near him at least four times. 

The second day, he lays on top of the couch and does the same thing. Harry's happy with their progress.

Niall comes over (they should really exchange numbers) to ask if he has weekend plans. 

"Sad as it is you're pretty much my only friend in London so far, so... no plans." 

Niall goes on excitedly about a barbeque he and his house mates are throwing, who all is coming. Harry gawks at the names he spits out so rapidly. Ed Sheeran, Nick Grimshaw, Little Mix. But apprently, the most exciting is a man named Guy Fieri, who Niall admires a lot, apparently.

"He just... drives around America and eats. That's it. Says things are "flava town". And he gets paid to do it!" Harry laughs at his new friend.  
Guy Fieri cancels on them. Niall sounds on the verge of tears when he delivers the "devastating" news over the phone. 

"You're not canceling, are you?" Harry may be used to being alone, but even he needs some human interaction, besides Niall and Suzanna. They have tea most afternoons. Plus he was getting quite excited to meet Ed Sheeran. 

"No, no. The night will go on, even without the Mayor of Flava Town, USA." 

Saturday evening, around 7:00, Harry knocks on Niall's door. He's carrying three pies and a tin of pink lemonade cookies that he's made for the occassion. Niall opens, and leads him to the food table in the expansive back yard. Harry's a bit star struck when Niall introduces him to Ed, but they actually get on well, once he's over his nervousness. Apparently, he and Nick Grimshaw are in nearly identical outfits, and Niall demands a photo. He posts it online, captioned something about twins. Harry and Nick laugh him off, and Harry makes his second (third if he counts Ed, and he really hopes Ed counts) friend. He eventually has a clumsy incident. A "Harry Mo" as Martha dubs them. He spills his drink on his favorite button down (it's a lovely sheer white with black brush strokes) and turns around to apologize to the person he bumped into. 

"Im so sorry mate. I'm kind of a mess sometimes." 

"Its no problem. Oh! You must be Harry, our new neighbor!" 

It's Liam. Harry guesses they stayed friends after the split. They go through that awkward moment where Liam introduces himself and Harry confesses that yeah, he knows who he is, because he was a fan. Then an even more alward moment when he has to obligatorily ask for a photo to send to Martha. Liam laughs it off and takes a quick selfie with him, and continues a conversation. Harry can send it later. 

"So what brings you to London. Do you have any housemates? It's kind of a big place to live in alone. What do you do for work?" Harry takes a deep breath and starts in on the answers. 

"I just needed a change I guess. I live alone, except for my new cat Herbert, and it's a little embarassing, but I bought it to be like a family home, you know? Always wanted kids and a shoebox apartment doesnt seem like the place to do that, even if my purchase is a bit premature. And Ive got a job lined up, but i dont start for about a month and a half. Im going to teach four year olds. More babysit I guess, but I hope they learn a little something." 

Liam is nice to talk to. He's very polite. Kind of stiff, but a lovely guy. Harry eventually excuses himself to the bathroom, to try and clean the now dry and sticky alcohol off his chest. He dabs at the slight stain with a wet rag and does the best he can. 

As he's walking out, the door slams open forcefully, hitting him in the head. He can feel it throb and knows he'll have a bumb soon.

"Owie," he exclaims sadly. 

"Shit is someone in there? Did I hit you? Soz mate." 

He opens the door the rest of the way, tilting his head down with his hand on his forehead. 

"It's okay. I usually end up hurting myself anyway." The first thing he notices his sockless feet in worn black vans. Those probably dont smell great. The man's black jeans are cuffed, showing off almost dainty ankles. 

He follows up the body, passing a loose and threadbare white tshirt, gaping open at the neck to shot off tattoo. And then the face. He knows him immedietly. It's his Lou. 

"Hi, sorry. I'm Louis. Not used to having people in my bathroom, so I should have checked." 

Harry is speechless, rendered mute by his first crush, and the reason he figured out his sexuality.   
"Do i know you from somewhere?" 

"I- i'm Harry, your neigbor. Maybe you heard Niall talk about me? Or you've just seen me outside?" 

"No, no. Before. Like you were younger. From secondary school maybe? No i would have remembertmed you more." Harry knows he doesnt actually remember the concert, or the kiss. Harry just has that kind of face. He gets mistaken for other people a lot. He tells Louis that. 

"No im sure it was you. Shorter hair. More curly. Chubbier face- it is you!" He seems so sure and Harey is lost. It shows on his no longer chubby face. How could Louis have described him?

"I kissed you. At a concert. Right after i hit you with the backstage door. Shit, I really need to be careful about doors." 

"You actually remember that?" Harry is astonished. Louis has seen thousands and thousands of fans. Probably kissed hundreds just because he was asked to (Louis was not a slag) for pictures and such. How could he possibly remember some snog after a concert with a fifteen year old boy. 

"Yeah. I didnt usually hit cute boys with doors, although current circumstances suggest otherwise. And I definetly didnt usually snog boys I'd just met." 

"No, i didnt think you did, but... i never would have guessed i was actually memorable. I thought you were just high off adrenaline from stage still or somat." 

"No i just... felt like i had to kiss you." 

They stand awkwardly and look at the floor, until Niall saunters by. 

"Hey, Harry! You've met Lou, good! Did he hit you in the face with a door. God i remember the last time be did that. To some poor lad at a concert. Snogged the live out of him then agonized for months-" Louis shushes him. 

"What? Come on Louis it was cute." 

"That was me, Ni. At the concert. Never expected any of you to remember it happened. Although I never expected to move in next door to any of you either, so." Louis gets a panicked look on his face, and just sort of bolts. Harry frowns. 

"What did tou mean 'agonized for months'. I wasnt seriously hurt or anything. Was he worried he'd hurt me?" Harry asks Niall. He shakes his head. 

"No. He kept insisting that he felt some spark with you. Said you made him believe in love and first sight and fate and religion and god knows what else. He looked for you online. Kept looking. Once he was convinced he'd found you, but it was private. The blokes user was hazza-something, so he called you hazza." 

"That was me too. My mum called me hazza." 

"Really? Wow. Well he would always look at the profile picture. I guess it was you. He wouldnt let us see it. Said we would make fun of him more. We though he had given up, but... about three or four years later he got really messed up for a couple weeks. Cried a lot. He told us that Hazza had changes his name and he couldnt find him. We asked if he was really that upset about it but he said that wasnt the problem. He said he thought Hazza was sad. And that he was lonely and hurting. Missing someone." Harry frowns.   
"I changed it when my parents died. Reminded me too much of them."

"Wow. Okay. Thats just kind of... freaky. Maybe he was right. Maybe fate did have something to do with it all." And with that bomb, Niall walks off, like nothing happened. Harry doesnt feel much like socializing after that, so he finds Nial and Liam to say goodbye, exchanges numbers with Nick and Ed and gets a photo with Ed then goes home. He curls up on his bed to think, but nothing in his brain works, so he forces Herbert into some cuddling (he just falls asleep on top of Harry but it's still comforting) and sends Martha the picture, knowing it'll make her call. 

"Ohmigod, you met Liam! Wait does that mean you met Louis." 

"Yeah. He hit me with a door again." 

Then harry tells her everything. About Louis remembering and Nialls story. And how Louis felt when Harry's parents died. By the end, Martha is telling him they are fated to be together. 

"That's just silly." 

"Why? Why cant two people be made for eachother. Id like to think theres someone out there for me." 

"And there is Martha. But.. he couldnt have possibly known about my parents. It's all just some crazy coincidence." 

"Its not a coincidence Harry. You love him, then you meet, and he hits you with a door, and he kisses you and believes in fate and God and love. He searches the internet for you. The 2008 internet, and we all rmemeber how hard it was to find someone then. And he find you. Then you do one thing. You change your user and he can feel how sad and lonely you are and he is deeply upset by it. Then you move, without a reason really. You never could say why you wanted to move. Or why you wanted to buy a house, instead of a flat."

"For a fam-" 

"Yeah, a family you say. But there are thousands of big fanily houses around London, and you move next door to him. It has to mean something Harry. It just has to.

He gets an audio text from Niall. It starts. It's Louis and he's pissed. 

"You told him everything didnt you. He's going to think Im a freak." 

"But it was him online. He said his parents died four years ago, right when-" 

"Shit. I've reallt found him then. And I've fucked everyrhjnf up. Probably lost him. Lost my Hazza."   
It's the ending that messes his Harry. My Hazza. It's just like him. Louis was never Louis. He had always been "my Lou" even in recent years, whenever a stray thought would pop up, it was his Lou. 

Another text come in and he worries, but it's Martha. He opens it. 

"Ask what happened to Louis in December."   
Harry knows what she's talking about. At the beginning of December, he became depressed. He would cry for no reason, all the time. He once told Martha it was like losinf his mom again. That's when he decided to move. He was like that for a month, until he found the house and started to really plan moving. He calmed down, but still sometimes felt like he was drowning inside. He sends a text to Niall. 

"He moved in with Liam and I after his Mum died." Harry's blood runs cold. It does mean something.   
He avoids that whole house for a few days. He sends Niall a text explaining that he needs some time alone. He even considers going back to Cheshire for a little bit, maybe talk to his sister. But he knows exactly what Gemma would say, and he still doesnt know what to do. So he does something he hasnt done in a while. 

He talks to his mom. Well he cries to her really. He doesnt understand why any of this is happening. Its not normal to be connected to someone like this. Twins maybe, he could believe, but he knows Louis isnt his twin (he called the hospital he was born at just to be sure). No all this could be is the universe fucking with him. And Harry can believe that because he's always believed there is a higher power out there. And that power is a little shit who loves practical jokes. But theres a reason for things and things for a reason. That's always been his mantra. So what's the reason for this? Is he supposed to help Louis? Is Louis supposed to help him? Did the reason for this connection pass? Was he just supposed to move here, maybe something to do his his job or Herbert who needed a home or Suzanna who needed a friend without fur? Or are they supposed to be together? He just doesnt know. And he cant figure it out on his own.

He knocks. No one answers. He knocks again. Still no answer. He rings the door bell. He knows some ones is home. He texted Niall to he sure of this. There is a car in the driveway. Louis is home. And he will talk to Louis. He's about to look under the mat, for the key Niall told him is there (how original. No burgled would ever look there), when the lock sounds in the door. Louis is standing on the other side, with deep purple bruises under his eyes and ashen skin and sweat spiked hair. He hadnt noticed at the party, but he now can see the concealer that covered the rings and the sadness he held. He looks how Harry feels inside. Great. Another sign. 

"Haz- Harry." He quickly corrects himself. 

"Louis. Can I come in?" 

"Yeah. Sorry about the party. I think I was just getting sick. Been feeling like shit for the past couple days." Harry frowns. 

"That's my fault." 

"Nah, it's not your fault if you got me sick." 

"It is though. The same was it was my fault you got so upset when my mom died. And how I was depressed when your mom died. And how i bought the house nextdoor when tou moved in here, even though I had no idea. ItMs my fault becuas I've felt like shit trying to figure this thing out. This whole fate connection thing. And I cant." Louis laughs a little, sad.

"And you think I can? I've been trying since I met a boy who I never wanted to leave. Since I searched for him for months and found him and looked at his picture for years, wondering if he was okay. Since i felt how not okay he was when he changed his username. I still havent." He sits on the couch, hunkered and defeated. 

"What did you mean when my mom died? Is it... is it not just one sided?" 

"What? No. I always thought about you. About my Lou. But i just chalked it up to being a fan. Easier for me to ignore it than you I guess. And easier to find you. And in december, i got depressed. It felt like when my parents died so.. I assumed it was just a weird relapse or something. When i bought the house i felt better. Thought it was a prospect of the change."

"My grief got a little better when i moved in with Liam and Niall." 

"Thats was it I guess."

They stop talking. Harry sits next to Louis. Hazza and Lou. They dont look at eachother. Both tap their leg nervously, wringing their hands, mirroring. Harry notices and stills himself. 

"So we have a weird connection. What do we do from here?" Louis turns to look at him. His eyes are glassy and he looks positively dead ln his feet (seat?). Harry knows what he needs to do. He kisses Louis. He kisses him hard and fast, like a truck. Louis falls backwards onto the couch, and kisses Harry back eventually, frantic and hungry. When the kiss ends, Harry pushes his chest up off of him. 

"Are you okay?" He knows the answer. He knows the lie that Louis tells and shows when others are around. Lou lets out a quick sob. 

"No. I'm really not." 

He begins to cry, big ugly tears that rack his whole body, and Harry just lays on him like a blanket, to smother out the sadness. He knows that's what helped him, when Martha just cuddled and smothered him. Helped him keep the peices from shattering apart. He hopes it helps Louis.   
But he also knows what Louis has to do. Louis is there to help Harry recover. He never fully came to terms with their death. He just sort of put it off until it didnt hurt as much. But sometimes it comes back, a bone wrenching pain that burns his whole body. And he knows those arent Louis, but his own. Helping Louis work through his loss will help him work through his own. That must be the reason. 

A few months later, Louis is doing better. He sleeps through the night (plastered against Harry's back). He eats three (sometimes four) meals a day. He still cries a lot, but that's okay. He visits his little sisters, who needed him most and he just left. He apologizes to Lottie for pretty much forcing her into a new role as caretaker, which he always filled when they were young and Mum was at work. He got a dog, and Herbert is practically his as well, with as much time as he spends at Harry's. But most of all, he's coming to terms with a life without his mum. And Harry is too. 

He looks up at Harry, from his place with his head on his chest (he was making fun of Harry's bird tattoo. He went the other week and added eyebrows to them. Eyebrows!), and smiles. 

"My Hazza?" 

"Mm?" Harry doesnt even open his eyes. 

"Im glad I hit you with that door." 

Harry's pink lips stretch into a smile. 

"The first or the second time?" 

Louis thinks about it before he answers. 

"Both." 

"Me too, my Lou. But maybe lets not have a third, okay?" They colapse into giggles, and they're both happier then they have been in a long, long time.


End file.
